Article Title
Buckeyes Against the Boycott: Why Ohio's Law Opposing BDS is Protected Under the First Amendment
Abstract
In 2016, Ohio became the fourteenth state to enact legislation denouncing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. Codified as § 9.76 of the Ohio Revised Code, this legislation prohibits any state agency from contracting with a company that boycotts Israel during the contractual period. While the constitutionality of § 9.76 has not been challenged, anti-BDS statutes passed by other state legislatures have faced First Amendment challenges. This Note argues that § 9.76 of the Ohio Revised Code complies with the First Amendment under the government speech doctrine. In 1991, the Supreme Court applied the government speech doctrine in Rust v. Sullivan to uphold a restriction on federal funding, stating that the government does not violate the First Amendment by restricting the recipient of federal funds from supporting a certain viewpoint. Several Supreme Court cases followed and expanded on this holding, further emphasizing that government speech is not subject to First Amendment scrutiny. Despite the constitutionality of § 9.76, this Note proposes that sole proprietors be removed from the legislation’s scope to prevent future litigation costs for Ohio.
Recommended Citation
Hannah Kraus,
Buckeyes Against the Boycott: Why Ohio's Law Opposing BDS is Protected Under the First Amendment,
69 Clev. St. L. Rev.
159
(2020)
available at https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevstlrev/vol69/iss1/9